madrid a club worth five hundred million euros expresses a position on something the world anti-doping agency has to take notice if you don't figure. out is iraq continues its investigation into the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs in the final episode of sports doping the endless chase at this time. we understand the differences and the similarities of cultures across the way around. so many times when you call home al-jazeera international bringing the news and current affairs that matter to. al-jazeera. this is al-jazeera.

and i'm adrian for again this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next sixty minutes aid workers begin to move syrians desperate for medical care from a rebel held area of the capital damascus. the government of the philippines reaches out to help people displaced by storms and political violence in morocco we . may have my extends its detention of two loiters journalists by another two weeks and i'm far as well have all the sport including iraq or it has been smashed in one of the most grueling races and that's where. we begin in syria where aid workers have begun evacuating critically ill patients from eastern guta in the capital damascus eighteen people have died while waiting east and goes as one of syria's last remaining rebel strongholds it's been under

a government siege since twenty thirteen it has been the target of hundreds of airstrikes and artillery attacks that's caused severe food medical shortages for around four hundred thousand people who are trapped that last month the u.n. called for five hundred people in need of urgent medical care to be allowed to leave but. it was only after long negotiations that twenty nine critical cases were approved for medical evacuation the first four of those cases have now been taken to hospitals in damascus let's take you live now to beirut and a honda is monitoring developments across in syria so they have four people have been removed what happens to the other twenty five that have been cleared for evacuation. well what we understand is that the remaining twenty five will be evacuated in the coming days but like you mentioned the united nations has a list of four hundred ninety four people urgent cases critically ill patients

patients who suffer from kidney failure cancer blood disease they can't receive any treatment in eastern because this is a besieged area has been besieged for for years and in the past few months the government tightened that siege and even close the smuggling routes so people really suffering there and the united nations really appealing to the syrian government for months now telling them you need to evacuate these people so loud twenty nine people will leave what we understand is that the syrian government allowed them to leave after reaching a deal with the main rebel group. assam is releasing twenty nine prisoners so this is definitely a welcome move but it is not enough a lot of the four hundred thousand people still in eastern guta what are conditions like for them. supposed to be a deescalation zone far from it remains a battle ground there airstrikes shelling people are getting killed or wounded and

it's not just the lack of food the lack of food means that many children according to the united nations one thousand five hundred children are at risk acute malnutrition already in the past two months three children died all of those children under the age of two months old so it's a lack of food lack of medical supplies it remains a war zone people are really suffering and activists will tell you is that this is part of the government's star tactics. to an area you starve the people you force them to surrender they've used the strategy in the past it is a military strategy what we understand is that the government wants the rebels to lay down their arms to agree to be evacuated to the rebel controlled province of idlib in the north we've seen that happen in the past but so far rebels are resisting a surrender but the. the pressure is growing all right on the what does this say that the situation in east and go to say about the the politics of the war in syria . well many people are saying that the war is winding down well to

a certain extent yes but the war is not over. like i mentioned it is a battle ground even though that there is a deescalation zone no doubt violence has been reduced and what we're seeing now really is russia which is really the main player in syria what russia has been trying to do is push forward a political process but its own political process that wants to be the architect of this process is trying to sideline the un led geneva process and the rebels the opposition they're rejecting this but right now they have they don't have much power on the ground so russia trying to push forward for this political process but at the end what is a political settlement if it doesn't amount to peace if people are not able to return to their homes if people feel that if they return to certain areas that they're wanted by the state so in two thousand and eighteen we are going to see russia trying to push forward this political process but the opposition is not onboard many thanks live in beirut the government of the philippines is setting up

more than six hundred temporary shelters for some of the thousands of people displaced by conflict and two tropical storms in the city of. bride reports. for people displaced by the more we fighting life in a muddy camp with open drains was already miserable then came the floods sometimes were washed away and all of them with. the poor families possessions all still wet pile and they go to sleep in the. neighbor foreign and her family lost their home and business in the fighting now her daily battle is with the water and mud to keep it out. you have to constantly thing. about where to put your things in my diary we had money and could eat properly and i could go to school in the city bears the scars of the months of conflict between government troops and fighters

linked to eisele for now which is quiet but there's still a threat of renewed hostilities and martial law in mindanao has been extended for another year but on the edge of the city signs of hope new permanent homes are being built for displaced people president rod rigo deterred who's from mindanao has promised to find a lasting solution to the conflict for him this project is an important step on the road to peace we. mean that. by doing my job or knowing what is going to bother them and it's an ongoing dialogue fomented out the conflict holds up development the lack of money and jobs then fuels the underlying discontent and none of this is helped by being battered by storms from her tent home for an ample one can see the new houses being built on the opposite hillside but doesn't know if she will get close to moving into one martha i hope one day we

can make a new start and living in one of the new houses would help for now the new houses are far outnumbered by the thousands of tents robbed the bride al-jazeera city southern philippines international observers have praised liberia's peaceful presidential runoff despite the low turnout results are expected in the next few days it's said to be the first time since nine hundred forty three that the country will see one democratically elected government hand power to another al-jazeera as mohammed adam is in the capital monrovia. after a day of orderly queues and peaceful venting in more than five thousand polling stations across liberia the people of this country are waiting for the results of the runoff election it pits former football star george where against current vice president joseph walk by local media is already reporting that told the way of. a lead in votes counted on talent show far in some of the counties all for the

country george where is banking on his support with in the youth which accounts for more than sixty percent of the population of this country. just as walker has tied himself as the natural kind of date of transition as he has been deputising for outgoing president ellen johnson sirleaf for the past twelve years electoral commission is expected to announce the election results in a matter of days rafiq raji is managing director of a consulting business that focuses on investment in the region he says that weeding out corruption will be the biggest challenge for the next president. the turnout is the result of the time it's going to festive period build. understandably. quite difficult but some let me turn now to all of us ignites our

christmas dinner before i left is not a choice it's in the very popular candy this on an incumbent citizens are familiar with a dog very much that's the result will be any difference from what he saw on the first shot in reality what desktop when is he who is succeeding the economy depending on the points if your points. and you give them the political but they need to make bold. policy actions. to succeed if they do otherwise is not talk all the time so experience as the. toll it will it will depend on how. well it's got the resort but without wins to ensure that this is on corruption enough gun country is secure attorneys usually much much of

what it's got from. here when the worst is a benefit and yet is that if people do something they supposed happening is another guise of corruption when the next one gets to look for the other was used as a relief well to equip the passions of the allies i doubt very much that's on those fronts no again a significant difference on the part of the two candidates. russia's president vladimir putin has formally registered to run in the twenty eight thousand election he'll stand as an independent candidate but is backed by the pro kremlin united russia party is expected to win his fourth term in march but in the so far refrained from campaigning but has praised his government's management of the economy russia's rebounded from its worst recession in two decades and used. it to good schools and of course these would be difficult years for both the country and for those who had to ensure

a stable development and overcome the difficulties that stemmed from the world economy i can say that the russian government not only did everything that it could but in my opinion even more than that you have a stench we solved all the economic tasks at hand russia's electoral commission has allowed t.v. personality case a the subject to run against putin in next year's election subject is nominated by the group civil initiative and is the daughter of putin's former mentor anatoly sobchak the first elected mayor of st petersburg but critics say her decision to run plays into the hands of the kremlin by creating an os official contest. the first stage of a major prisoner exchange between ukrainian authorities and pro russian separatists has just ended both sides have been sending their prisoners towards a site in the city of all of which is mainly controlled by the separatists in total ukraine is expected to release three hundred six separatist fighters in exchange for seventy four of its government soldiers the deal was brokered last week

mediated by the russian orthodox church in moscow let's just remind you of how ukraine got to this stage fighting broke out there more than three years ago after pro russia separatists took over parts of eastern ukraine to agreements to end the conflict was signed in minsk but deals the deals failed to bring peace both sides blame each other the ceasefire violations the conflict has killed more than ten thousand people two and a half thousand of them civilians and it's forced more than a million the hof from the homes and school life out of moscow our correspondent laurie chalons can tell us more rory how much work has gone into this deal. there's been a lengthy process going back months. years have various stumbles and hiccups along the way the breakthrough i think really came as you say earlier in the week where there was a meeting here in moscow attended by. coups kiev's

and voile on various humanitarian matters to the minsk talks it was also attended by patry our carol of the russian orthodox church and the various leaders of the separatists republics in eastern ukraine so that was i think what broke through and made this. swap actually possible but there was also some heavy influence going on from flooding near putin and of course the leadership in kiev. that emir putin essentially said that he was going to use his influence with the republics to make sure app and so yes we have had i think some top down approval of this walk and it's bearing fruit as we can see going on right there so right this moment but is this a significant breakthrough in the conflict for you. i think it undoubtedly

is because this is the first prisoner swap to have happened in something two thousand and fifteen so there has been a long time with very very little agreement very very little movement so to get to a point like this there has to have been serious dialogue on both sides and a degree of good will coming from both sides as well having said that there are still prisoners being held that arms include is in this prisoner swap so we are being told that this is number one. essentially and that they're going to be new lists drawn up with with new people on it it remains to be seen at the moment though whether there are going to be some very contentious prisoners the prisoners who were held in russia prisoners like olic sense of who is

a ukrainian filmmaker who was arrested in crimea in i think two thousand and fifteen given a twenty year sentence for terrorism now he it's unclear whether he is going to be included in any future prisoner swaps that is always going to be the kind of thing that keeps tension high and of course the conflict itself is still bubbling away there is a temporary cease fire going on at the moment for the for the holiday period christmas and new year. the conflict though will drag on until there are significant moves made within the minsk process to bring it to a close and that's a long way off yet rory many thanks indeed for a challenge there live in moscow. there with the news hour from al-jazeera still to come on the program a remote road linking amman and yemen has become a path for refugees coming out and aid headed in plus we're in mexico looking back on a year of unprecedented violence against journalists and in sport defending cup champions

cats are at risk of making an early exit from this year's tournament we'll tell you why with far a little later. the attention of two reuters journalists and media has been extended for a further fourteen days while loan and cure so were arrested earlier this month after meeting police officials on the outskirts of yangon man not accuses the pair of planning to share illegally acquired information with foreign media the reporters were covering the crisis affecting growth engine muslims in rakhine state they have been allowed to meet families and lawyers outside the court hearing. we were just carrying out our jobs as journalists we have been detained at the criminal investigation department we never violated our journalism ethics. joining us via skype from bangkok is benjamin so lucky has

a wealth and human rights for such a as an advocate specializing in asia could tell he with what grounds does a man have to charge these these two journalists and extend that attention well being charged on the form which is extremely serious. a fourteen year prison sentence that are convicted this to me of the story much more about the current state about the situation opinion of the ethnic cleansing the crimes against humanity than it is about journalistic freedom while there have been a rollback in journalists in myanmar and you know seventeen what this really shows in my view is just that there are graphic areas that are off limits to journalists the human rights researchers the u.n. officials and others namely were crimes they there are elements in reporting that story that are equally off limits and the b.m.r. authorities are willing to go to great lengths to to prosecute and if you spend it signal to others that this won't be tolerated in the ministry of information and

says that these journalists illegally acquired information with the intent of sharing it with foreign media as any evidence spend presented by the government to prove that. not to my knowledge my understanding is that is that the the journalist obtained information from the police themselves the allegation being that they have changed somehow fraudulent we or through deceptive means and my understanding is that they had photos and mass graves in reclined state that they were either planning or allegedly planning to use in the press or to pass on to someone else again what's most interesting to me about that however is that the world has yet to be shocked into action by the forcible displacement of six hundred fifty thousand ranges from the country thousands of whom according to the associated press were killed in the first month alone of this of example to bethink cleansing and therefore it doesn't seem to reason that the disclosure of a mass grave or two is going to somehow shock the world action or shame the b.m.r.

authorities any more than they have been shamed and yet again the authorities are going to great lengths to just press this information and make sure the photographs don't don't get out all right so what do you think is really going on here what does this mean for any of the journalists is trying to cover they have all working in the country. well it doesn't necessarily bode poorly for the situation outside of rakhine state although i should point out that the rollback in the freedom of expression return left in two thousand and seventeen has been largely limited to the coverage of this particular story and to other and you'd want to find out what it definitely says then. is that rakhine state is off limits human rights workers u.n. officials journalists under no conditions are going to be allowed access to that area and if we should find their way in through other means any attempt to report that or that of the crimes against humanity will be taken very seriously i expect these journalists to be to be convicted and probably to spend some time behind bars

whether it's the full fourteen years it's difficult but i don't see the authorities backing down i'm sure this is something about which they're extremely close all right good to talk to somebody thanks prejudice a lucky that and bad call. place in mexico of the rest of the suspect in the murder of a crime john list the man is accused of planning the killing of little breach in march the journalist was shot several times she drove out of a garage mexico is one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters according to the committee to protect to protect journalists at least ten have been killed this year alone and twenty seventeen has been mexico's most violent year since the country started keeping records twenty years ago at least twenty three thousand people have been murdered that's one death every twenty minutes the increasing rates is being blamed on corruption a weak judiciary and the extradition of drug lords to the us about us reports. that three years ago forty three students were abducted on their way to approach in

mexico city their parents want. remains from just two of the students have been positively identified i mean when they were not but now they know they may he got the virgin of guadalupe is the patron saint of mexico and we will ask her to speak to the hearts of those in government to return our children because it's not fair that thirty nine months on our children have not been returned. the void these parents feel is repeated across mexico. this is how the year began in the resort town turned murder capital of mexico acapulco six people including three women were shot and killed at a market during lunch time on january fourth two days later two more people were shot to death on a beach popular with locals and it continues nationwide until the number of people murdered passed a record twenty three thousand in november mexico started keeping homicide records

and nine hundred ninety five the figure drops until two thousand and seven when former president felipe calderon launched his drug war this was the result it dropped again after president pena nieto. was elected until now this year the drug fueled violence has spread affecting peaceful regions like baja california where the murder rate has doubled. the jump has been blamed on corruption a weak judiciary and the capture and extradition of drug lord joaquin el chapo guzman to the united states the. leap in competition for his domain. it's because of the drastic adjustment the criminal organizations have had in the last three years in mexico the appearance of new criminal groups the dissolution of others and the great struggle that is beginning to be noticed in the country states in regions of the country where there was relative peace after the capture and extradition of walking. in an attempt to control the cartels congress approved

a controversial law that would see soldiers take over from police in the drug makes the coast supreme court is deciding if it will become law next year. for now forty one students are still missing any information on the whereabouts will likely change these people's lives but do little to mexico's homicide tally shallot ballasts al jazeera during yemen's more than two and a half year war human rights groups have said all sides are guilty of abuses al-jazeera has spoken with a political prisoner about his experiences behind bars just a warning some of what you're about to hear is graphic but i sure can name reports . yousif knew the opposition newspaper he edited made him a target of the armed rebel who thiis it was time to take precaution but it was too late last year he says he was kidnapped outside his home in santa.

i was repeatedly tortured interrogated due to my job as a journalist before my the tension i openly declared that i was suspending my work due to the harsh conditions facing journalists opposed to the who these in song and so began more than a year held in several prisons in yemen's capital. threatened with physical abuse and rape so was my family i was put in solitary confinement for twenty six days my health deteriorated. human rights groups say thousands of people including children have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by both sides in the war yemeni forces and who the fighters are accused of beating using electric shocks and forcing prisoners to strip others taken captive have simply disappeared this human rights attorney says families have reported the deaths of almost one hundred twenty prisoners and one of us is one seventy year and if there are secret prisons

human rights groups have documented four hundred seventeen alone in sana from residential houses to schools and even places of worship the kidnappers have abducted individuals from all walks of life and juniors doctors and even journalists they are subjected to brutal torture but journalists are given a harder time line was eventually transferred to a military prison camp where he says he was housed along with prisoners of war last month he was released as part of a prisoner swap. but if i thought. i wish it didn't happen that way simply because i was not a convicted person i was kidnapped outside my house. is lucky to be alive days before he was released the camp was bombed dozens of his former cell mates die natasha to name. the president of france and the has urged saudi arabia's king solomon to lift the blockade on the m.

and the bookcases limiting supplies of fuel food and medicine. expressed his concerns about the humanitarian crisis in the country when millions of people on the brink of famine parts of the country are also in the grips of a cholera outbreak but want to scape route from yemen's fighting has been by road across the border into a month but some of money is a driving in the opposite direction rob matheson explains from muscat. for over forty days mohammed has been waiting he has on call his brothers and their seventy year old father have traveled over two and a half thousand kilometers to muscat from their home in the yemeni port city of aden lyon a lot of the services in aden are very bad there is no electricity water or food we have to buy it from the black market and it costs too much life is very difficult mohamed's father has spent those six weeks inside the muscat apartment they all share he has cancer he has

a visa for treatment in germany mohammed is his father's official companion but his visa hasn't come through. him and the health system in yemen has almost collapsed they can only do simple first aid and basic operations but for serious illnesses there is no treatment and people can't afford it much of yemen has been ripped apart by fighting between rebels and saudi led forces backing the internationally recognized government. and many hospitals have been destroyed the government of a man doesn't issue official statistics to show of the number of yemenis there are in the country people who've been injured in the fighting or people who've escaped here and need medical treatment have been treated by the hospitals here but amman is very concerned that the fighting in yemen is going to spill over the border and because of that it's tightening its border controls and that's going to make it more difficult for people like muhammad and his uncle to come to amman so some of

monies are taking aid to yemen. has been three times already. in october he took three trucks filled with food clothes and blankets over time when i'm going there is given hope to go again. ok not because i don't go for fighting my truck is not for fighting is to helping people. on the last journey's seventy year old sort of reality you finally persuaded nasser to take him to more concerned seventy of those people there and the problems which are. physical now and i wish any magic when he comes and remove this problem eleven mohamed says he has no intention of staying away from yemen and it's not just like when he and his family work in construction and when the fighting stops they say they'll have to rebuild their country rock matheson i'll just be

a nice guy at all mine. winter in the northern hemisphere and it's jolly cold in all the usual places including the u.s. it's still a small beach really just still called self goals so you named steph goal to go. instead of going to tell you about what you're missing you're missing the snow so let's have a look at some of that snow then that we're seeing in the u.s. in fact for some of us in the northeast there have been so much snow that it's difficult to get about now in fact eighty six centimeters of snow we saw on christmas day in erie and off the boxing day we got to one point five meters that is an awful lot of snow is a record for them and it brings the total amount of snow in december so far this year to two hundred forty six centimeters that's nearly twenty eight and the previous record is only one point seven meters so a huge increase this year and the reason for it well here is the reason it looks fairly benign really on the satellite picture doesn't it that's not one of the huge

systems moved through that brought us all the snow let's zoom in and have a slightly closer look and then maybe we can see what's going on now these are the great lakes they're fairly warm at this time of year they haven't frozen over yet you can see most of the cloud starts haul for you across the great lakes and then works its way eastwards that is a clue as to what's going on the winds a feeding down from the north a bitterly bitterly cold at this time of year and these have picked up a fair amount of moisture from the great lakes which is still equate and then they were also heated them from the ground as well so that's all caused a load of instability and is also given a fair load of moisture a great recipe for snow so that's why we've seen so much snow to the east of most of the great lakes and why erie has seen so much snow and it's still incredibly cold adrian stuff colder you see a counselor that follows stuff whether stepha twitter it's much easier to say still to come here on the news about the legacy of pakistan's first female prime minister benazir bhutto we'll take a look ten years after her assassination plus. i'm going to be in london with

solutions t.v. you. reportings to corrode the most delicate operations but could robots be taught to kill force women all alone. added sports an english resurgence in the ashes cricket for that with fire up at around fifteen minutes. witness documentaries that open your eyes at this time on al-jazeera. the offense being

a journalist the crime practicing journalism. must go to the same detained for three hundred sixty five days without charge. journalism is not a crime mahmoud a sane is not a criminal. free mahmoud hussain. i got to have you with us adrian for the good here in doha the news hour from al-jazeera our top stories this hour aid workers at the get evacuating emergency medical cases from the besieged area of east and go to syria's capital damascus

many of. been waiting months during that time the un says that at least sixteen people have died the area has been surrounded by government forces since twenty thirteen. the government in the philippines is setting up more than six hundred temporary shelters for some of the thousands of people displaced by the conflict in the city of morale we've the army retold the area from eiseley separatist faces in october after a five month siege robbi was also battered by tropical storm tembin last week. and the first stage of a major prisoner exchange deal between ukrainian authorities and pro russian separatists in eastern ukraine has ended in total ukraine was expected to release three hundred six separatist fighters in exchange for seventy four of its soldiers . one on our top story the medical evacuation of civilians from the besieged area of goods in syria in the capital damascus the evacuation is another sign that syria's long civil war may be entering its final phase to discuss that i'm joined

by name solemn a professor of international affairs and. university joins us live from beirut professor good to have you with us and is the war in syria entering its final phase now what are your predictions for the weeks and months ahead. i see it two thousand and eighteen when. a war will be winding down and gradually. the government of syria is that it is trying to focus in the next few weeks on the area around damascus. which extends all the way to the board with. jordaan heights and with mt head amman. in lebanon. most likely over the next forty eight hours this area will be cleaner to from. opposition groups and they will be moved is that eminence of then they would be

moving to northern syria the next stage as all indications show will be good as you mentioned in your introduction this will take a two track track off diplomatic negotiation involving the russians and us and took the track of military pressure i can see that between now and the month of february the situation will be settled an easy way. about that clearly is that it really is is now mobilizing troops around all of. those a situation is going in the direction of military confrontation or if the opposition accepts they will be moving toward the north to the. problems near the border as has had been done over in many areas including the west. so

bored i was lebanon last summer when separate one hundred. militia members and their families where moved by buses to robin and. problems so it just remains to be see ok but clearly is that is that it is now gaining ground in the assad. in a portion of syria all right and this will be settled in a matter of weeks ok how will it be settled what about what about the primary actors here the the opposition as sad as this indication that he's won what happens to russia and the u.s. and also that the second reactors here to keep iran and the e.u. for his is what role are they all going to play in winding this conflict down. actually do you start with the last. part that you mentioned that you doesn't have much road in this second date or it tangentially wrote the mandrel now it is for

the russians the thirty six that iranian and direct report of that is that there is very little but the past months and years even every time the syrian army gets closer to. board about in the jordaan heights. israelis would react by bombarding. us or the area surrounding damascus or particularly is that a musket international airport over the past few days and even a few weeks there is that it is have not reacted many theory it seems that that is increasing the pressure by russia on the israelis not to do so by setting that is that israelis that the russian will supply syria would have supplied syria with some messages that would be able to show down the plane is if they wander over the region of see it as this is a clear because the israelis over the past few weeks but equally this week where that is intense fighting in the south had not to be acted at all and they have left

the militia members whom they have been supplying for years for their own destiny ok very briefly you talk about that the syrian regime at the head of that regime of course is president bashar al assad to see him remaining in power. i don't see our side being removed if he was to good will but if he would have been removed long time ago as a main actor in the central actor in syria and is a syrian conflict needed the bonds are russian first of all he would not advocate that is no indications that he would become a number two the russian have made it clear and repeat that little but the past weeks and months of particularly but the past few days that they will not be putting pressure on mr assad to leave power why because mr assad is the main actor in theory on the politics and the main ally of russia and therefore if he is to be

removed russia's influence will be affected negatively in syria and that's the what the russian cannot afford to do ok professor really good to talk to you many thanks indeed solemn there professor of international affairs diplomacy at the university life there from beirut. it's been ten years since pakistan's former prime minister benazir bhutto was assassinated at a campaign rally she was part of pakistan's most famous political dimmest to the city to syria's come out hi there reports now from the area of qana the ancestral home of the bhutto's. the budget can't be bothered by commemorating their tenth anniversary of beignets. ad you can see if i jam packed crowd people have come from across the country from all the four provinces of pakistan by the head in the province of jane she still enjoyed going there but the board after all how far do you group began and

a lot of kannada oh father good forgot early bird draw for you you a popular. dad benefit drug over the mantle of rich fungibility for the pakistan people's party ad you can take good care of the pre-buy who have joined up yeah ordinary. for coming from the nearby religion for the people of. the ledger this is only dan yes i think after twelve and peggy and for d.d. i does take that father she always lived in there because she writes for them he'd die for them. maybe she need to say we fight hard life. and we shall continue her. mission i think the last we went off on lies and i eat meat there and on the b.b.c. one could believe that the mission of p.p.p. ran a mission of the shade would those who will remain continue and their pride to faggotry zero zero zero for little girls then they enjoyed can trigger broke apart. or draw

is now the chairman of the project on people's party they have a provincial government and the province they did it all here expect that in the forthcoming election the beepers party may get more wards than other provinces that red it really caught fear death of their popularity across pockets on. the rise of an official intelligence group posix is challenging it is changing well the health care more operations that are carried out by surgeons using robots to serious lawrence lee finds out if we should trust machines to look after us. these guys hospital in central london and a man is about to have his life chances vastly improved with the help of the rebels . he has prostate cancer the surgeon and his team would in the past have cut him

open and felt around with their hands. but now they insert choose. and then we let the robot. soon the surgeon is at a console moving the robot remotely it's fine tools stitch up the man's colon before moving in to perform the operation. in principle you could have the surgery carried out or part steps of the surgery did a very clearly defined carried out by a surgical instrument that was basically set up and told again i had laser eye surgery only ten years ago and i know for fat that the op thousand the surgeon did my eyes he met devon think he set a machine hit a button and there was a machine that did the surgery wasn't. all kinds of surgeries are done like this welcomed by those lucky enough in the rich world to have an operation made quicker

and less painful than in the past. but the new frontier is not in medicine but in care the robot succumbing to help the aged to consider the role that robots can have in caring for those we love is surely at the sharp end of the debate around automation in the human world after all robots home to modes that don't have the human touch and so how do we as human beings feel about outsourcing a duty of care to a machine in the coming weeks these dimentia suffer as a care home in north london will have robots for company the owners run dozens of places like this across the u.k. they want to roll the machines out everywhere because what we're dealing with is dementia residents people who forget who have a memory lapses and if robots could remember. things about them or their cultural needs about that have it's about the back end of

living and if they could relate this to a nuclear or even an agency staff was coming in it could be a lot of emotional things like these these people experience because when you forget things you get agitated and you cannot recollect what you have really gotten how are you very and you robots like this it is dark you could help organize delivery of medicines or relatives could skype their loved ones through it screen but cannot love but it is argued they could help dispenses the agonizing question is whether we want them to i think ethically it's undesirable to have robots take the place of carers for these specific issues of being reassured you know being helped to death and so on i think very few people would say that we should staff our hospice with robots i mean at the end of life that's really where you want a completely human type of interaction in parts of the world robotic care

assistance has already been viewed by people a socially acceptable. in japan a nation of technology lovers with an aging population is becoming common. but will cameras ever be replaced by machines it would surely to questions about how much we value our own humanity lawrence lee al-jazeera london throughout the day on thursday in the fifth part of our series on artificial intelligence we're looking at a future with robots and a i which is coming and it's going to affect us all and the final part of a series al-jazeera two of those seeking to reduce the impact of that. into these is volcano has erupted sending clouds of ash into the air cards and cars and houses have been covered in gray ash throughout north sumatra province there are no reports of casualties but there are warnings of poor visibility for drivers so the ban is active several times each year. is latin america's

most famous music and colombia's third biggest city cali has become synonymous with the dance the salsa festival takes place on christmas day when thousands of professional dancers take center stage at the parade listen i'm p.f.c. went this year to take a look. it might have been born in new york be a cuban where rico but latin america's most famous rhythm is truly at home in colombia third city cali the self-titled world capital where the dance is celebrated with a huge parade then christmas day. this time under a heavy rain. fall that sounds suffer the most is everything look at us totally drenched we love we are showing it once more today. we live and it's all idiosyncrasy fifteen hundred then through this parade through this aisle saw them are demonstrating cali's unique acrobatic style feat move an extreme pace to the

frantic beat as dancers keep in turn. cali both over one hundred south schools attracting an increasing number of. brain aficionado's she'll get a good look at say it but what makes kelly special is its people's unique passion for dance salsa dance almost everywhere in the world but only here people with such little means do so much to get here dancers train all year to be chosen for the parade and dream of one day reaching the world's tallest such championship sixteen year old now. says that for many poor continuous becoming a dancer is a way to make a living and change stereotypes i'm back and this is where we become more than kids from the ghettos we get associated with drug trafficking and prostitution but that's not who we are we dance for ourselves and for our image we work long hours stay out from the streets take care for wellbeing all our free time all our effort

is for dance this is sort of almost part of the kali fare for stevie these celebrating its sixtieth anniversary it's the one time of the year when all calling us deeply divided between rich and poor come together to celebrate and then through the night. this party will still be way way out for us courts are well beyond. just the energetic never let's stop court time. trying to keep a. world south second capital might sound like a bold claim but seeing a news dance you can't help but think it's true i listened to just. fantastic just ahead in the sports this winning shot was made with less than a seconds left in the game action from the n.b.a. coming up with fire next.

hello to talk to support his for thank you so much australia's wild oats eleven has smashed a record to cross a line first in the sydney to hobart race won the most grueling yacht races in the world wild oats finished in a time of one day eight hours forty eight minutes and fifty seconds beating closest challenger l. devi comanche by is sixteen minutes taking almost five hours off the record time set by perpetual loyal last year while dos however could face a protest by camacho she after the pair narrowly avoided

a collision shortly after the start of the race in sydney harbor on choose say officials could give wild oats a penalty that could prevent them from clinching their ninth title. pool is to come with a hole in the hole right thirds of the on commission that's going to think. that is superior is a really the whole thing rises a lot of. that the most powerful drug war country all four time african footballer of the year yeah torrey has announced his intention to return to international football the man city midfielder got one hundred caps for the ivory coast and won the twenty fifteen africa cup of nations before retiring in september last year the thirty four year old confirmed his decision on twitter saying i love my country and i am available for a national team selection i want to help the next generation and use my experience to make all ivorians proud. defending go for a cup but champions kept tara facing an early exit from this year's tournaments after losing to iraq in the group stages caps are high be in yemen for nil in their

opening match and they looked set to repeat that victory at the stadium as it gave them a one elite in these seventeen minutes but only phase a ts where things out for iraq are later in the first top for the seamy of faisal put iraq to want to head to its iraq's first win of the competition after they drew with bahrain in their opener. in the english premier league taught them striker harry came as written him self into the record books the twenty four year old netted his sixth of the year and his side's five two win over southampton on choose day it means he finishes twenty seventeen with thirty nine league goals breaking a twenty two year record for most scored in a calendar year and the premier league set by alan scherr kane also moves ahead of barcelona was a little messy as europe's top goal scorer of twenty seventeen with fifty six in fifty two appearances for tottenham.

with a set of. to celebrate and then of course the. game elsewhere liverpool thrashed swanzy five nil chelsea also secured three points they beat brighton two nil but manchester united only picked up one point for the second straight game an injury time goal from jesse lynn guard helping them to a two two draw against burnley. i knew my players to accept to accept the risk. not to be. afraid to lose. city or for not to be afraid. a possible the didn't happen but could have been a possible negative reaction from. the supporters.

very happy with. that. manchester city are to sit twelve points ahead of second place man united with a game in hand chelsea are third with liverpool in tottenham completing the top five with less than half a season left to play city will have the chance to win a record breaking eighteenth league match in a row when they travel to newcastle later on wednesday but missed to go in a game so we win a lot of games and that's why we were happy in our lives is better when. it's simple like that. but it's not i'm thinking about i'm going to sleep thinking about it i'm going to break a record. so nothing is special nuke us a former senior official with peru's national football federation has been acquitted of conspiracy by a court in the us but will berger was charged with taking bribes in exchange for being awarded marketing and media rights to international football matches or go

walk free just days after two other south american officials were convicted of similar charges the case has been linked to corruption at the heart of fever international football's governing body. we are very happy we members waited for this day for a long time and about the need for it to get to the point. well. they had over thirty million pages of documents in this case and hundreds and hundreds of witnesses and thousands of files that we had to go through. to say it was a herculean task. really to understate it but. we want. and it was the right thing to do for the jury to do so the fourth ashes test were england's ouster coach made his first ashes century and nearly seven years that came after australia were bowled out for three hundred twenty seven it means england have a deficit of one hundred thirty five runs going into day three australia have

already retain the ashes with an unassailable three male lead in the series. in the change in the celebrations when you've got hundreds of people jumping up and i think that's a testament to the bloke he is nice very calm character is not someone who who. gets sick a phased look i mean he went through so much stuff with his captaincy i'm not sure a bit of stick about scoring runs is going to put her in too much what the winter olympics just weeks away ice hockey teams are still trying to figure out their rosters after the n.h.l. declined to release their players for the games canada is using the ninety first edition of the international ice hockey tournament the spangler cup to help decide their team for chang the two time defending champions open the tournament with a victory against czech side mountfield h.k. five three canada faced davos. it was another drama filled night in the n.b.a. as the phoenix suns beat the memphis grizzlies with less than a second left in the game take

a look at this general martin shot for the grizzlies tied the game up at ninety seven with zero point six seconds left of the game and with just a point four seconds to go tyson chandler made it to play should victory for phoenix ninety nine to ninety seven the final score the sons have now won four of their last six. and that's all your support for them back you are many thanks dave that's also it for the news out of course the news never stops i'll be back in just a few moments to update you on the day's top stories. between criminal busts trading in stolen goods that have been taken by the place if anyone ever comes to ask the question then sort of throw their hands up in the air and say i don't know i was just nominee director we're doing a investigation into. ukraine could you have

a bribe so you can corrupt our corrupt did just the presidency al-jazeera investigations the only go coming soon. a nation where corruption is endemic now embroiled in a battle to hold the power to account. how does this radical transformation occur. i mean no other i mean if you want to go shedding light on the romanians pressing for change on the unconventional methods to eliminate corruption remain the people at this time on al-jazeera. the nature of news as it breaks the last time senegal qualified for the world cup was in two thousand to fifteen years on and hope to do even better in russia next year with detailed coverage tried to imagine it only seven years ago right here.

now this team has taken over their land from around the world donald trump is promising a major policy announcement on trade a potential challenge to khorat a missed opportunity a braai. just going to talk about all the talk about shooting people are not able to shoot a gun themselves and then all the countries have managed to solve this problem but you worry that this conflict could erupt into a cult right open war the city's general security issue will the people who pay the price clearly there writeup unprejudiced setting the stage for a serious debate up front at this time on al-jazeera. aid workers begin to move syrians in.